VILLANOVA, Pa. – Two goals scored in the game's first 26 minutes helped lift Villanova (5-2 overall, 0-1 BIG EAST) to a 3-2 Philly Soccer Six victory over La Salle (2-5 overall, 0-0 Atlantic Ten) in a game played on a warm late summer afternoon at the Higgins Soccer Complex.
Sophomore Yusuf Cueceoglu scored a pair of goals in the Wildcats' win.
"Soccer Six games are always tough and this one certainly was," stated Villanova head coach Tom Carlin, "La Salle is a good team with a good coach that came here with a good game plan. I thought that in some ways we made it tough on ourselves too after we got the early lead. I felt we could have been a little cleaner in our execution.
"At the end of the day we had enough resolve and commitment to get the result."
The Wildcats wasted no time in taking early control of the contest, scoring on their first shot of the afternoon. The play featured slick work from junior forward Jacob Anderson, who got a touch on the ball to senior Zach Zandi, and Zandi did the rest. The product of West Chester, Pa., fired a low shot along the artificial surface just inside the left post at 8:19 to stake VU to the early lead.
Villanova kept the heat on too and cashed in during the 26th minute. This time the play began with junior Evan Vare – wearing No. 31 instead of his usual No. 8 – found classmate Conor Bradley. Bradley then fed Cueceoglu who finished nicely at 25:26 to make it 2-0.
But the Explorers found energy in the last 12 minutes of the period. They converted a penalty kick opportunity at 35:01 (Soji Olatoye) that shaved the lead to 2-1.
Despite having dominated play for much of the period, the Wildcats held only a one goal lead after 45 minutes.
"We were up 2-0 and then we gave them a PK just by being undisciplined," Carlin said. "Suddenly it's interesting and they have new life."
Villanova extended its margin to 3-1 at 56:28. This time senior Kian Zapata set up Cueceoglu with a cross and the native of Germany sent the ball past the Explorers goalkeeper Cameron Keys.
However, the Explorers got on the board again at 66:02 off a flurry in front of the Wildcats' goalkeeper Carson Williams. A clearing attempt by Villanova failed and the ball wound up on the foot of La Salle's Bryce Gabelhart, who sent the rebound into the left side of the net.
"We didn't shift properly enough in transition, the ball gets crossed in, there's a skirmish and they get another one," Carlin noted. "At two different points it felt like we had a comfortable lead and then suddenly it wasn't. It became a tight game."
Cueceoglu nearly added a third goal on two separate occasions in the final minutes but was thwarted. La Salle had a couple of chances of its own in the final sequence of action, including a Hayden Criollo bid that sailed just over the crossbar.
The final count was 3-2. With the win, Villanova improved to 4-0 at home in 2018.
"Kian was the difference in the game," said Carlin. "When we put him in there things changed. I thought Yusuf and Zandi set a great tempo for us early."
The Wildcats will be back on West Campus on Saturday as nationally ranked Creighton comes to the Higgins Soccer Complex for a match that kicks off at 4 p.m.
